Study about learning and reading in U.S. schools

Tom Loveless recently published the 14th Brown Center Report for the Brown Center On Education Policy. It includes three studies about the gender gap in reading, the effects of the Common Core Standards (CCSS-ELA) and the student engagement. The first survey explores that girls outscore boys in practically every reading test given a large population. This phenomenon can be observed worldwide. Especially in Finland this gap lifts the country on the first place of the PISA-ranking. If Finland would be an only-boys nation, it would be mid-table. The second study is about the CCSS-ELA which sets reading standards in K-12. 46 of the United States signed on to the CCSS-ELA and six didn’t. These six can serve as a small control group for future comparisons. The last part of the report examines the students’ engagement by collecting a number of background information from students. There is a correlation between the motivation and the results on a math test. The noticed fact: The higher the average motivation of the students, the lower their score in the PISA math test. But the consequence shouldn’t be to weaken the motivation of a country’s students. The lesson here is to consider how to interpret the collected data.

Information:

http://www.brookings.edu/...brown-center-report-loveless

Image:  Wikimedia Commons